The allegations of “dangerous’’ immigrants, “fake news,’’ and “unpatriotic’’ stars “disrespecting’’ the national anthem may feel as fresh as this month’s headlines. But these same themes were at the center of an incredible scandal that rocked Boston — and then the nation — exactly 100 years ago, and one that came close to toppling the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

At the center of the controversy was Dr. Karl Muck, the prickly German conductor whose relentless pursuit of excellence had, by 1917, elevated the BSO so that it rivaled the finest orchestras in Europe. Considered one of the world’s top conductors, Muck was a certified celebrity.

But everything changed in the fall of 1917, after Muck and the BSO failed to play “The Star-Spangled Banner’’ during a concert in Providence. With an American public conditioned by war to see a threat behind every German name, and curious parts of Muck’s biography coming to the fore, the conductor became Public Enemy Number One. His reversal of fortune was only the most dramatic example of how quickly and completely Americans turned on German-Americans, who had for decades been this nation’s largest and most assimilated immigrant group.

In a special nonfiction novella in today’s Globe Magazine, staff writer Neil Swidey excavates this fascinating, but largely forgotten, chapter of American history whose underpinnings have such surprising resonance today.